Covers for spas or so-called “hot tubs” have been utilized for decades. These spa covers are often employed in cooler climates to minimize the escape of heat energy from the spa. Further they are often employed to cover the spa to prevent unauthorized access to the spa, or to prevent debris such as dust, leaves, insects and the like from being deposited within the spa. Heretofore, spa covers have had two portions which have been usually fabricated from lightweight, insulative sheets, and which have been typically enclosed in a flexible, synthetic, fluid impermeable sheet or envelope. The two portions are typically joined together by a continuous hinge. In most prior art spa covers the hinge is formed by a seam of flexible, typically fluid impermeable material which bridges between the two halves or portions. It has been a common practice to remove such prior art spa covers by swinging or moving one-half of the spa cover onto the remaining other half, and then lifting both of the halves off of the top of the spa in order to expose the spa for use. As is described in various detail in many prior art references, this task of removing the spa cover has sometimes been difficult because of the awkwardness of the spa cover construction, and further due to the weight of these spa covers as the same spa covers have become heavier, over time, due to the absorption of water which is occasioned by their proximity to the underlying heated spa water, or because water is absorbed from the ambient environment. In my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/526,825 which was filed on Oct. 29, 2004, I describe a spa cover combination and wherein a ridged, spa cover is illustrated and which has individual portions which are operable to fold onto themselves and then be removed separately from the underlying spa so as to assist in the opening of the spa (FIG. 2). This particular spa cover design as seen in my pending application represents an improvement over my spa cover as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 8,813,275, and which was issued on Aug. 26, 2014 (FIG. 1). This other spa cover which I designed has achieved a great deal of success, and experienced wide-spread market acceptance because the construction substantially prevents the absorption of water into the interior of the spa cover portions, and further this design permits a user to stand on the spa cover in order to remove unnatural accumulations of snow, leaves and other debris that might be occasioned by the use of the spa during the fall and winter seasons.
While the aforementioned spa cover designs which I have commercially introduced have achieved a great deal of commercial success, users of spas who have various medical conditions, or otherwise have reduced strength, still find some difficulty in removing the aforementioned spa covers to expose the spa for use under certain environmental conditions such as when the spa is covered with moderate amounts of snow or other conditions such as high winds exist.
A movement assistance device is described in the present patent application, and which aids and assists in the movement of a spa cover to uncover a spa in a particularly easy, and novel manner which is not shown or described in the prior art teachings. The movement assistance device as described, and claimed is easy and simple (EAS) to use, and further allows users, even with reduced strength, to readily remove a spa cover in a convenient and safe manner which was not possible, heretofore.